1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improvement of a rear structure of a motorcycle.
2. Description of the Background Art
In a motorcycle, Japanese Patent No. 2723311 (P. 2-4, FIGS. 1, 3 and 5) discloses a rear structure in which an exhaust pipe extends rearwardly from an engine and is provided with a muffler at the rear end of the exhaust pipe
According to Japanese Patent No. 2723311, in a rear structure of a motorcycle in the related art, a front wheel, an engine, and a rear wheel are disposed on a vehicle body in this order from the front toward the rear. An exhaust pipe extends rearwardly from the engine. A muffler is provided at the rear end of the exhaust pipe with the muffler being disposed on the rear portion of a vehicle body frame between left and right seat rails so as to project upwardly from the seat rail.
A motorcycle includes various on-vehicle components such as a battery or a key cylinder. Thus, it is required to secure a sufficient space for arranging these on-vehicle components. If a space under the seat disposed in front of the muffler can be effectively utilized, it can be used as a space for arranging the on-vehicle components.
However, in the motorcycle in the related art, the rear end of the exhaust pipe, which passes along the center of the vehicle body, is connected to the muffler below the seat. In this case, when considering the effects of hot air emitted from the exhaust pipe, it is difficult to arrange on-vehicle components, which have low heat-resistance, in this space. It is not expedient to provide additional space for on-vehicle components because the size of the motorcycle increases.